


The Boundaries Between

by HopelessHalfa



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU: No Phantom Planet, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-14 00:43:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1246351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopelessHalfa/pseuds/HopelessHalfa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of Dash's bullying incidents leads to a horrible accident, and now everyone at Casper High must face several truths. 1) Dash Baxter doesn't think. 2) Poor funding leads to faulty emergency systems in schools. 3) Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are the same person.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How Can You See Into My Eyes?

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from an Edgar Allan Poe quote: "The boundaries which divide Life and Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?" 
> 
> I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters mentioned from the show in this fic. All rights to Butch Hartman. This is written as a piece of fiction, not for profit, and shall remain as such.

Danny awoke with a groan, rubbing his hands over his face as he struggled into consciousness. For some reason, he felt off. His vision was blurry at first, swirls of green and purple flashing across his eyes, but once everything came into focus he realized that he was in the Ghost Zone. 

"Ugh, what happened? Why am I in the Ghost Zone?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow when he noticed that he wasn't wearing his normal gloves. In fact, he wasn't wearing any of his usual Danny Phantom getup at all. He barely managed to get himself into a sitting position before the world seemed to tilt on its axis and he fought back a wave of nausea. 

"I wouldn't move if I were you Babypop." a familiar voice sighed from behind him. Danny stiffened and his head snapped around so that he could see who was standing behind him. Ember was there, leaning against a particularly tall chunk of rock and staring at him with something akin to sadness. The look on her face unsettled Danny, and he fought to get to his feet. Once he did so, he turned so that he was facing Ember and raised his eyebrows. 

"What's going on? Why am I here? Why aren't you attacking me?" Danny asked. For once, Ember wasn't toting around her beloved guitar. The rebellion and rage in her face had been extinguished, and the blue fire that made up her ponytail was much smaller than usual. Ember shifted from foot to foot before biting her lower lip. 

"I'm not attacking you because I'm the greeter for this part of the Ghost Zone." Ember finally said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her eyeliner looked slightly smudged, and Danny's confusion doubled. 

"Greeter? What the heck does that mean?" he pressed. Nothing felt right. His mind was fuzzy, his body felt weird even for his ghost form, and he hadn't even looked down to see if he was wearing the rest of his suit or if he was still in human form. 

"I greet all the...all the ghosts that are here because they died in a fire." Ember explained quietly. Danny gaped at her for a minute. 

"Died in a fire? Very funny Ember, but I don't have time for this. Tell me how I got here and I might think twice about kicking your butt." Danny snapped, anger flaring up at him. For some reason, the idea of fire unsettled him greatly now and he shifted from foot to foot, preparing to go ghost. Ember shook her head sadly and pulled a small makeup compact out of her pocket. 

"See for yourself hot shot. You're...you're full ghost now." she murmured. Danny caught the compact easily and flipped it open. It felt like he had been sucker punched in the gut. 

Danny's normally jet black hair looked like the tips had been dipped in white paint, particularly where it hung around his face. His eyes were no longer uniform, the right one glowing an eerie, ectoplasmic green and the other a glowing version of his original eye color. He dropped the compact in a panic and didn't even wince as it shattered. He was too preoccupied with examining his clothes. His red and white tee had been replaced with a snug fitting black tee with the Danny Phantom logo on it. His jeans were now black as well, but they were skinny jeans instead of his typically baggy ones. His sneakers were green, black, and blue, and his white gloves were now fingerless and made of white leather. 

"What happened to me?" he croaked. 

"You died Danny." Ember said, and Danny only managed to let out a small croak before he lost consciousness once more. 


	2. Leading You Down Into My Core

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ember takes Danny to see Clockwork. Danny doesn't like what he sees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if this will be a trigger, but this chapter is going to contain mild mentions of people dying in a fire. There won't be anything graphic, but if you are triggered by fire or death, I highly suggest you don't read this chapter. There will also be mentions of child abuse.
> 
> Also, I am REALLY fudging it with Clockwork here. I'm going to claim creative freedom?

The second time Danny opened his eyes in the Ghost Zone, he was less disoriented but a lot less happy. Ember was looming over him, her smudged eyeliner doing little to conceal the worry in her acid green eyes. Danny shoved her out of his personal space and put his head in his hands. 

"This isn't funny!" he suddenly screamed, rage building up in his system. He couldn't be dead! He was only fourteen for crying out loud! Danny's mind raced, trying to recall the circumstances surrounding his sudden awakening in the Ghost Zone. Whenever he tried to remember anything from the previous 24 hours though, it felt like a knife cutting through his brain. "Nngh, god, why can't I remember anything?!" he added, tugging at his black and white hair. Ember very carefully pried his hands out of the silky strands and offered him a soft look. 

"It takes a while for you to be able to remember your death, especially if it was traumatic. And honestly, you don't want to remember anyway. I know I didn't." Ember explained, her somewhat gravelly voice filled with sadness. Danny jerked away from her again and his hands began to glow green as he prepared an ecto-blast. 

"Stay away from me Ember. I don't know what's going on here, but I don't like it one bit. This had better be some sick prank." Danny snapped, firing a warning shot that flung a few shards of hard rock up at Ember's shins. She scowled at him and barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course  _she_ had to be the one to guide the brat through his first 48 hours of the afterlife. That was the way it was in the Ghost Zone; when a new soul came in, if they died a traumatic death the most recent ghost to go through that experience was to be the one to lead them through it. Ember was the  _only_ ghost to have died in a fire before Danny, and so she got stuck with the gig. Suddenly Youngblood didn't seem so bad. However, Ember also felt pretty bad for Danny since she knew what it was like to die like that. 

"Look, if you won't believe me, how about I take you to someone you  _will_ believe Babypop?" Ember asked, folding her arms across her chest. Danny scowled at her. 

"Why should I trust you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. Ember rolled her eyes at this and shrugged. 

"I don't know. Maybe because  _you. are. dead.?"_ she retorted.

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Danny screamed, an uncontrolled burst of ice and ecto energy exploding outward and freezing everything within a 35 foot radius of him, including Ember. 

"Danny, calm down!" Ember managed to yell through gritted teeth. Her hair was extinguished now, and that annoyed her to no end. After a few moments of heavy breathing, Danny realized what he had done and melted the ice trapping Ember with glowing hands. 

"Sorry." he muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck. "So, who did you want me to see?" 

 

Clockwork's castle hadn't changed in the time since Danny had last been there. It was still as eerie and timeless as ever, and Danny barely suppressed a shudder as he flew over to the door and knocked three times. Ember lingered a few feet behind him, knowing that whatever Clockwork had to show Danny was none of her business. Ghosts never asked other ghosts how they died, and it was a sign of great trust to know the details outside of a Greeter/Greeted relationship. Ember knew the bare bones of the circumstances surrounding Danny's death, and she had a feeling it would be a very long time before she learned anything else. 

"Ah, Daniel. I've been expecting you." Clockwork said, his adult form opening the door and offering Danny a slight smile. Danny nodded in response and rubbed at the back of his head. 

"Can I come in? I...I have some questions." Danny said, glancing back at Ember before returning his multicolored gaze to Clockwork. 

"Of course. Come in, come in." Clockwork said, morphing into his eldest form seamlessly and extending an arm in welcome. Danny stepped into the castle and shuddered as the door slammed shut behind him. The two made their way into Clockwork's main room, the room in which he observed time streams. The battered Fenton Thermos containing Danny's darker self was still sitting there, and Danny backed away from it quickly before turning to Clockwork. 

"So, will you tell me what's going on?" Danny asked as Clockwork shifted into his infantile form. Clockwork sighed at this and his tiny shoulders slumped forward. 

"I can show you, but you will not like it." Clockwork said. 

"Just show me so I can get outta here." Danny snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. Clockwork shook his head sadly and pulled something up onto his screen. 

"Would you like me to leave?" Clockwork asked. This caused Danny to raise an eyebrow. 

"No, why?" he questioned. Clockwork rubbed at his face, transitioning once more. 

"It's...polite. Ghosts only let other ghosts know how they died if they trust them." Clockwork explained tiredly. Danny's hands clenched into fists and his right eye gleamed dangerously. 

"I'm not dead!" he yelled, and with that he slammed his hand down on the play button that seemed to have come out of nowhere. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-  ** _24 Hours, 10 Minutes Prior_** -x-x-x-x-x-x-

_"Come back here Fenton!" Dash bellowed, chasing the raven haired teen down the hallway. Danny let out a yelp and darted down a side hall, sneakers skidding on linoleum as he desperately tried to reach an empty classroom so that he could go ghost and disappear. He had accidentally knocked into Mikey, who had been carrying a beaker full of something nasty for a Chemistry project. Mikey had stumbled and spilled the tar like goo all over Dash's letter jacket. The goo reeked like month old Nasty Burger trash and Dash was not pleased. And so he decided to take off after Danny and beat an apology out of him. Danny cursed quietly when he realized that the hallway he had turned down was a dead end and he skidded to a halt._

_"Look Dash, i-it was an accident. I really didn't mean to-" Danny was cut off as Dash fisted a hand in his tee shirt and lifted Danny clear off the ground._

_"I've had just about enough of you Fenturd." Dash growled, punching Danny square in the face. Danny's head snapped back and slammed against a locker, effectively knocking Danny out. Dash snorted, thinking that Danny was kidding._

_"C'mon Fenton, stop your joking. Just let me whale on you and we can call it a day." Dash grumbled. When Danny's only response was his head flopping sickeningly to the side, Dash began to panic. If anyone found out he had hurt Danny like this, he'd be off the football team for sure and there would go his scholarship. Panicking, Dash stuffed Danny into the nearest locker and rocketed out of there to his first period class._

_Five minutes into the first period, a horrid shrieking began to fill Casper High and bright lights began flashing from the red fire alarms hanging on the ceiling._

_"Great Gatsby, there wasn't a fire drill scheduled for today!" Mr. Lancer cried, leaping out of his seat. Dash's stomach sank as he remembered stuffing Danny into a locker. Students began to panic as the smell of smoke reached their noses, and Mr. Lancer quickly herded the class out of the room. Dash turned to head back towards the locker he had stuffed Danny into, but Lancer grabbed him by the back of the jacket. "Are you crazy? The building is on fire!" Mr. Lancer hissed. Dash gulped and bit his lower lip._

_"F-Fenton's still inside!" he finally wailed, fear for Danny finally outweighing his fear for his own future. Mr. Lancer froze and quickly began counting heads._

_"Where is he?" Mr. Lancer hissed, frantically waving over a member of the APFD, as they had just arrived on the scene._

_"I-I don't remember which locker!" Dash realized, paling until he looked about ready to keel over._

_"What do you mean, which locker?!" Lancer screamed. Dash moaned softly and put his face in his hands._

_"Fenton...I...I stuffed him in a locker but I don't remember which one. It's in the B Wing though." Dash replied. The firefighter nodded and raced off, her yellow jacket glinting in the sunlight._

_"You're in big trouble Baxter." Lancer growled._

The video flipped to Danny's perspective, although Danny didn't realize it. All he could see was the fuzzy inside of a locker, light glimmering in faintly through the ventilation slots in the metal door. For a long time, that was all that could be seen, but then smoke started to pour in through the four slots. Things seemed to come into focus, and that's when a pair of trembling hands came into view and began pounding on the locker door. 

_"Hello? Hello?! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Danny screamed, realizing that thanks to the blow to his head he was still too weak and disoriented to go ghost. The smoke was thick, and it burned Danny's lungs as he was forced to breathe in the acrid substance. "HELP!" he screamed again, although he realized that his voice was getting weaker._

For the next several minutes of video, Danny watched himself continue to bang helplessly on the locker door, each bang and cry for help getting gradually weaker and weaker until the view faded to black. It wasn't for another two minutes that the locker was yanked open. 

_Danny fell out of the locker and into the arms of the firefighter that had overheard Lancer's conversation with Dash. The raven haired teen was limp, too limp for the firefighter's liking, and she yanked the emergency oxygen mask on her side over Danny's face and turned on the stream so that the oxygen in her tank would also flow to him. The boy didn't move, and she cursed as she raced out of the building with him in her arms, barely noticing as beams came crashing down from the ceiling, sending sparks flying everywhere and feeding the blaze._

Danny was seized by a sense of horror as he watched his own body being gently laid out onto a stretcher. Danny caught a glimpse of Sam screaming, her amethyst eyes filled with tears as Tucker had to hold her back from rushing over to the unconscious boy. 

_The stretcher was loaded onto an ambulance, and the ambulance rocketed off to the hospital. When it arrived to the hospital, the EMTs inside had already given it their all. A few more moments in the emergency room and Daniel James Fenton was declared dead upon arrival due to severe smoke inhalation._

The screen cut to black and Danny was jerked back to reality with a gasp. His body was shaking, and he realized that he was crying when he touched his cheek. 

"W-why didn't you..." his voice failed as reality sunk in. He had died. There was no denying that. He felt it in his gut, realized it in the way his chest had tightened as he watched smoke pour in through those four little vents. 

"Sometimes I cannot interfere." Clockwork replied, an old man once more. Danny whirled around to face him, eyes blazing. 

"What do you mean you can't interfere? You kept me from becoming  _that_ ," he gestured to the dented Fenton Thermos, "why can't you go back and keep me from dying?!" he continued, voice rising in volume until he was screaming. Clockwork looked more weary than he ever had before and wiped a hand over his aged face. 

"I was charged with the responsibility of your life Daniel. I watched every possible outcome, and the only path that did not lead to your death was the path you chose not to take." Clockwork explained. Danny furrowed his eyebrows and then remembered. Jazz had offered to drive him to school that day, but he wanted to walk with Sam and Tucker. He had gotten into a fight with Jazz the night before, and so he had wanted nothing to do with her. Everything that could go wrong on the walk to school did go wrong, including Danny having to turn back to pick up his notebook, Tucker dropping his PDA into a sewer vent, Sam getting lectured by her parents before they could leave, and the front doors being locked upon their arrival, but Danny had still gotten to school in just enough time. In fact, his lateness had been what caused him to bump into Mikey. 

"You kept messing things up to make me late enough that I wouldn't have been trapped." Danny muttered. 

"I tried Daniel. I really did. I couldn't interfere directly, not with the Observants watching me so closely, and I can't go back to where I have already interfered." Clockwork said, his eldest self lingering much longer than it usually did. Perhaps it was a reflection of just how old and weary Clockwork was feeling in that moment, as Danny had not deserved a death like the one he had suffered. 

"I want to go back." Danny said after a few long moments of silence during which he had struggled to and finally succeeded in controlling his tears. Clockwork froze and stared at Danny for a long moment. 

"I cannot send you back in time. If you saw yourself, that would create a paradox so severe that I don't think I could reverse it. Once you're aware of how you die, it has to happen that way." Clockwork explained. 

"But I saw Dark Phantom kill me." Danny shot back. 

"That was different. This...this is inevitable." Clockwork murmured. Danny let out a frustrated scream and kicked the console nearest to him. Clockwork scowled at the angry teen as he transformed into his most youthful self again, but the expression quickly softened as Danny wrapped his arms around himself. 

"Let me go back. N-not in time. Just...home. Please." Danny whispered. Clockwork finally understood what Danny meant and he bit his lower lip. 

"I don't know if that would be a good idea Daniel. You'll never move on and neither will your family if you go back." Clockwork murmured. Danny looked up and he punched the wall next to him so hard that it crumbled. 

"And they'll keep waiting for me to come back if I don't. Sam and Tucker....they...they know I'm Danny Phantom. So does Jazz. I-I'm a ghost. I'm allowed to go back." Danny said, his ferocity laced with desperation. Clockwork shook his head and pulled a thick book out from under the pedestal holding the Thermos. The room was filled with the sound of flipping pages for a long time before Clockwork spoke. 

" 'A ghost can only return to the physical plane if their obsession lies there, or if they are a purely malevolent entity. If a ghost's obsession can be put to rest by something contained in the physical plane, they may return.' " Clockwork read off, and Danny frowned deeply. 

"What the heck does that even mean?" he questioned. It was then that the door creaked open behind him and Ember walked in. 

"Clockwork said I could come in." she shrugged, tossing Clockwork a time medallion. Danny shook himself faintly, frustrated that he hadn't even realized that somewhere along the line Clockwork had paused time. 

"Well unless you can explain this whole 'obsession' thing, I'd leave." Danny growled, hands beginning to take on a green glow once more. 

"Relax Popstar." Ember said as she leaned calmly against one of Clockwork's consoles. "Look...I'm only telling you all of this because I feel bad for you. Just so you know, you can't use another ghost's death against them so whatever I tell you never leaves this room and you can't use it to hurt me." Ember added before sighing heavily. "I don't like adults. Never did. A huge part of that is because my  _father_ ," she spat the word like a curse, "was abusive. Really roughed me and my mom up. I put everything I had into music because I knew I could make it big. If I made it big, I could get me and my mom out of that situation. Well, the night before the biggest audition of my life my dad figured out what I was doing and he tied me and my mom up. He set the place on fire and vanished. I'm not exactly sure what happened to him. All I know is that he's not here, and he's not alive anymore. So my...my obsession is getting famous enough to save my mom. I know I can't because she's already dead, but there's a part of my soul that can't rest until I succeed. I'll be a ghost forever. It's already been twenty years." Ember explained. Her voice was somber, her expression dead, and Danny couldn't help but reach out and squeeze her shoulder. 

"I'm sorry Ember." he whispered. Ember looked up with watery eyes and was shocked to find that Danny's face didn't convey anything but empathy. 

"Thanks Babypop." she said just as quietly, and before either of them realized it they were hugging. Danny began to quake with silent tears and he buried his face in Ember's neck. 

"I-I-I gotta go back." he stammered, body beginning to quake uncontrollably. "Th-they're not safe if I don't." he added. Clockwork gasped as Danny's entire body began to glow a violent shade of green, his pale skin illuminated by the unnatural glow surrounding him like an aura. 

"I think you just found your obsession." Ember whispered. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Danny floated in front of the swirling vortex that was the Fenton Portal and he bit his lower lip. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ember asked, floating beside him. It had been two days since Clockwork had shown Danny what had happened, and after the shock of finding his obsession wore off Danny had had to take the time to accept his death. He wouldn't admit it, but Ember had helped immensely, teaching him ways to get out his aggression and anger without causing humans or ghosts harm. Danny had been very adamant about that, even in death. 

"I have to. I...there's something in me that's screaming for me to cross back over and help them." Danny answered, his shoulders slumping slightly. 

"What are you going to do?" Ember said. Danny sighed and rubbed at his face. 

"I guess I'll tell them the truth. The whole truth. I mean, I can't exactly hide it now." he said, motioning to the DP logo on his shirt and the white in his hair.

"Remember...you're dead Danny, but that doesn't make you invincible. If you get torn apart as a ghost, not only is there no coming back to the Ghost Zone, but your soul can't move on to the next stage either." Ember warned. Danny nodded firmly; Ember had been very clear on that point. Her mother's soul had skipped the Ghost Zone, but Ember was trapped forever like many of the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. Some of the ghosts chose to remain there, having found their loved ones there or having built new and fulfilling relationships there. Danny still wasn't exactly keen on the idea of being stuck in the Ghost Zone forever when his family and friends were still on the physical plane, and every time he thought about it his aura pulsed again until the obsession was too strong for him to ignore. He needed to re-enter the human world. 

"I'll be careful." Danny said, offering Ember a tiny smile. The two of them had become friends during the forty eight hours of forced cohabitation, especially after Ember had revealed to him the details of her death so that Danny could understand what needed to be done in order for him to return to the people he loved. Ember nodded in approval and Danny stepped into the vortex, sucking in a harsh breath as he did so. The Fenton Portal was open, which wasn't exactly odd, but when he came through the other end the sight that greeted him was. 

His whole family was sleeping in a huddled mass on the floor in front of the Ghost Portal. Jazz was curled up in one of Danny's old sweatshirts in between Maddie and Jack, who were holding each other tightly and effectively sandwiching Jazz between them. Danny could see the glimmer of barely dried tears on their faces, glowing green in the light from the Portal, and he bit his lip to keep from letting out a sob. Instead, he went tangible and allowed his body to sink to the floor. His footsteps didn't make a sound anymore, now that his human half was dead, and so nobody in the Fenton family moved until Danny cleared his throat. 

"Mom? Dad? Jazz?" he whispered, voice cracking painfully. Three pairs of eyes snapped open at once and Danny screamed as he was enveloped in the most intense hug of his entire life. 


	3. I've Become So Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny reunites with his family and friends, but nothing is as easy as he thought it could be. After all, it's a bit difficult being dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you guys haven't noticed, I've been naming chapters with bits of the Evanescence song "Bring Me To Life". They're not always /exact/ quotes because I'm cutting out words here and there to make the titles make more sense. I felt like the song is pretty indicative of the feeling I'm trying to go for in this fic...at least for now. No, it's not a songfic. 
> 
> This chapter is mostly fluff, but there might be a little angst somewhere in there. Thanks for the kudos and hits guys!

When the arms crushing Danny in a circle of hazmat suits and cotton finally released him, Danny let out a small sob. He couldn't help it; when Clockwork had finally proved to Danny that he was dead, Danny spent a few moments thinking he'd never see his family again and it was the most terrifying and lonely experience of his life. 

"Danny!" Maddie sobbed, cupping his cheeks and shaking her head. "Y-y-you..."

"I'm a ghost Mom." Danny whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks as well. Maddie continued to sob as she pulled Danny into what would have been another bone crushing hug if Danny still had bones. "But I'm here." he added, rubbing his hands up and down her back reassuringly. 

"You're so cold." she whispered mournfully, brushing a few icy tears off of Danny's face. Danny winced and rubbed the back of his neck. 

"I've got an ice core. That's why I have ice powers." he murmured, and that's when Maddie's eyes fell onto the logo adorning his shirt. 

"No." she gasped, eyes searching Danny's face in disbelief. Jack noticed what Maddie was seeing and gasped as well, jaw clenching tightly. 

"You're the ghost boy?" Jack questioned when it became apparent that Maddie's words had failed her. 

"I was the ghost boy. Now...now I'm just a ghost." Danny said, sadness flooding his features. It was then that Jazz reached out and squeezed his hand tightly. 

"Hey...just 'cause you're a ghost doesn't mean you're not you anymore." she said softly, and that drew another sob from Maddie. Jack's eyes flickered over Danny's form for a few moments before the lumbering man's shoulders slumped. 

"But ghosts are...are just..." Maddie started. 

"No Mom, that's where you're wrong. I couldn't correct you before because then you would have found out about Phantom, but...ghosts aren't just lingering imprints of human post-consciousness." Danny started, squeezing Maddie's shoulder. "We're real. We're us. I...I'm still Danny. Your Danny. Daniel James Fenton, the little boy who shared backwash soda with you and wanted to be an astronaut." he continued. Maddie leaned into his touch and nodded, wiping her eyes. 

"I don't care what you are Danny, as long as I still have you." she whispered, eyes threatening to brim over with tears again. 

"Then stop crying. I...I don't like seeing you cry. Any of you." Danny murmured, brushing his mother's tears away. Maddie nodded and clenched her jaw, but after a few moments her tears stopped flowing. Danny pulled her into a hug and rested his chin on her shoulder. His mom was warm and solid against his icy, feather light body, and that feeling was more reassuring than anything he had ever felt in his entire life. They stood like that for a few moments before Jack shifted uncomfortably. 

"What happened to you though?" he suddenly blurted out, wincing when he realized how insensitive the words sounded. 

"I...it's a long story. We should probably go somewhere more comfortable if I'm going to tell you the whole story." Danny sighed, and he followed his family up the stairs even though he knew he could easily fly up. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"A few months ago, Sam, Tucker and I were in the lab. I know I wasn't supposed to be down there, but they were curious, and to be honest, so was I. Sam said she just wanted to take pictures, but then she convinced me to go into the Portal. I put on one of the hazmat suits you left me, but Sam swapped the sticker with your face on it for this." Danny gestured to the patch on his tee. "Originally the suit was just black and white, but a wishing ghost named Desiree showed up around the time of the meteor shower. Sam and I had gotten into a fight and she wished that she had never met me. She was wearing the Specter Deflector so the wish didn't affect her memory, but for a few days I had no idea who Sam was. She designed this patch and put it on me after she convinced me that she wasn't absolutely insane, then she sent me back into the portal so that I would get my powers back. When she wished for everything to go back to normal, she wished for the suit to stay the same so that's why I've got this." Danny explained, and Jazz smiled a bit at that. 

"I'm not surprised. That is way too cool for you to have designed it." she smirked, earning a glare from Danny. 

"Anyway. I got my powers because I turned the Fenton Portal on while I was inside it. Ectoplasm got in my blood, infiltrating every single cell in my body. I was half ghost, half human. And no, I wasn't half dead. Don't ever say that, because not only does it tick Sam off, it  _really_ creeps me out. Especially now." Danny continued, rubbing his hands on his knees. "So I fought ghosts to keep Amity Park, and you guys, safe. I didn't tell you because I was afraid that you'd experiment on me or flip out or something, and I know that's stupid but that's how I felt. The ghost fighting is why I was always missing class and not doing my work and stuff." 

"But if you had ghost powers, why didn't you just phase through the locker?" Maddie whispered, eyes full of tears once more. Jack sniffed and hugged his wife closer, nodding in his own teary agreement. 

"Dash knocked me out before he stuffed me in the locker. I can't go ghost when I'm unconscious or just after. By the time I had regained my consciousness enough to go ghost, the smoke inhalation had weakened me so much that I couldn't anyway." Danny explained. Jazz gasped and Maddie and Jack's faces turned murderous. 

"I could kill him." Jack growled dangerously, and that was what made Danny stand up. His eyes glinted with a fury that neither Fenton parent had seen before, and Danny's aura grew dark and dangerous. 

"No. Nobody else is going to die because of this. What Dash did was an accident and I'm sure he'll regret it for the rest of his life." Danny snarled, and the Fenton family cowered on the couch as they finally realized how powerful the youngest Fenton was even in death. 

"I...I didn't mean it literally." Jack murmured, and Danny immediately relaxed. He rubbed at his face wearily and shook his head. 

"Sorry. I just...it's hard for me to control it. There are a few things that set ghosts off. Jokes about death, whatever caused them to die, and their obsessions." Danny said. 

"Obsessions?" Maddie asked. That drew a small grin from Danny. 

"People only become ghosts when they're not ready for the next step. If a ghost has an obsession, that means there's something left on the physical plane that is tying them here." he began. "The Ghost Zone is sort of the first step in the afterlife. I went to the Ghost Zone because I have an obsession." 

"So your powers had nothing to do with it?" Jazz asked. 

"Nope." he said, popping the 'p'. "Well, not exactly. I um. My obsession is protecting the people and places that I care about. My powers gave me that ability in life, and so I became a cross between my human self and my original ghost self." 

"I gotta say, the hair is pretty cool." Jazz smiled, tugging on a chunk of hair that went from white to black halfway through. Danny swatted at her hand. 

"Stop that. Just 'cause I'm a ghost doesn't mean I can't feel anything." he grumbled, and for the first time since Danny died, the Fentons laughed. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was almost dawn by the time anyone in the Fenton family fell asleep. Jack slipped off the couch and onto the floor with an earth rattling snore, unable to contain his exhaustion any longer, and Maddie sighed. 

"I'll get him." Danny offered, and he reached out to turn Jack intangible before easily floating through the ceiling and into Jack and Maddie's bedroom to deposit his father in bed. When he returned, Maddie was sitting with her hands between her knees and a torn expression on her face. Danny frowned at that and sat on the coffee table in front of her. 

"What's wrong?" Danny asked. Maddie looked up at him and let out a humorless chuckle. 

"I don't want to go to sleep." Maddie said. "I'm afraid that if I do, when I wake up you'll be gone and this will all have been a wonderful yet terrible dream." 

The expression on Maddie's face paired with her voice was enough to break Danny's no longer beating heart. He sank onto his knees and touched his mother's hands. 

"Mom, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I can't, even if I wanted to. I won't move on until I'm ready, and as long as you, Dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, or anyone else in this city are still alive, I can't move on. And if any of you were to go to the Ghost Zone...well, I could actually make the decision as to whether I moved on without you or stayed with you. The Ghost Zone is the first step in the afterlife, but sometimes people skip it and other times they're so happy there that they don't have to move on further." Danny explained, rubbing the backs of his mom's hands with his thumbs. Maddie shivered at the icy touch, but the hands were so obviously Danny's that she got used to it rather quickly. 

"And it doesn't hurt you or bother you that you're stuck being a ghost?" she asked gently. Danny let out a small chuckle and shook his head. 

"Nope. I'm pretty used to it actually. I still have all my powers except for the ability to turn back into a human, so nothing's really changed but that and the look. The only painful thing is...well, is remembering what happened that day. It's sort of taboo in the ghost world to talk about it anyway." Danny mumbled. 

"I don't ever want to talk about it anyway. That was the worst day of my life." Maddie whispered, smoothing a few strands of Danny's multicolored hair out of his face. Danny nodded in understanding and squeezed her other hand once before standing. 

"I think you should go to bed Mom. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise." Danny said. Maddie lingered for a few more minutes, but she finally nodded and walked upstairs slowly, turning to look at Danny every few seconds as if she were afraid he'd vanish the second she looked away. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next morning, Danny woke to the sound of the doorbell being rung. While he didn't need to sleep, it was habitual and he found comfort in curling up in his bed and sinking into the soft mattress that had accompanied him since he turned seven. The sound of the doorbell made him yelp and he fell out of bed with a thud before phasing through the floor to see who could possibly be at the door. He was immediately grateful for the fact that he had gone invisible as well, because Sam and Tucker were standing at the door. Sam looked like she hadn't slept in weeks; her eyes were circled with black that didn't come from eyeliner, her hair was messy, and she was wearing black jeans and what Danny quickly realized was a tee shirt he had left at her house by accident. Tucker's cocoa skin was pale and his eyes were devoid of the mischievous glint they so often contained. The appearances of both of his friends made Danny want to be sick, but he remained invisible and intangible as he glided through the air to hear what they were talking about with Jazz. 

"-miss him so much. I don't know what to do Jazz." Sam said, sniffing heavily and wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. Tucker had a comforting hand between Sam's shoulder blades and he was nodding along in agreement. "I thought he'd come back." Sam added with a croak. "How could he not come back?" she sobbed, leaning against Tucker for support. Jazz bit her lip at this and it was then that Danny made himself visible. 

"I couldn't come back for the first forty eight hours. It's the rule." Danny said softly, and both Sam and Tucker froze. Sam's head turned slowly until she was looking Danny in the eye, and then Danny was sent reeling backwards thanks to a hard slap to the face. 

"IT'S BEEN FOUR DAYS!" she screamed, face flushing with rage. Danny held up his hands defensively and let out a soft sigh. 

"I know. I only came back last night, and I...I had to concentrate on my family Sam. My parents were a wreck. My mom couldn't even go to sleep until a few hours ago because she thought I'd vanish the second she closed her eyes." Danny sighed, running a hand through his streaky hair. Sam's eyes followed the motion and she glared at him again. 

"You could've come to me after they were asleep Danny." she hissed angrily. 

"No, I really couldn't have. If my mom had woken up and I wasn't here...Sam, I don't want to know how that would have affected her. I was going to come see you, I swear, I was just sleeping and-" Sam cut him off with an angry gesture. 

"Ghosts don't  _need_ sleep Danny." she growled. 

"That doesn't mean I don't take comfort in doing the same things I did when I was alive." he shot back, and that made both Sam and Tucker's jaws drop. Sam's eyes slipped shut and she let her mouth close slowly, as if she was really taking in the fact that Danny was dead for the first time. 

"We thought...we thought that since you were half ghost you'd come back as half ghost." she whispered after a few moments of tense silence, during which Jazz slipped out to give the trio their privacy. 

"It doesn't work like that Sam. It's hard to explain, but to make a long story short, I came back as a ghost because I have unfinished business here. I won't move on until it's complete or everyone that I knew and cared about while I was alive dies too." Danny said. Sam's eyes opened again and she stared at him for a long time. 

"What business?" she asked. 

"Keeping Amity safe." Danny replied. Tucker chuckled softly at that, suddenly looking and sounding much more older than he ever had before. 

"That'll keep you busy for the next thousand years Danny." he teased. 

"That's the plan. Well, at least, it can be the plan." Danny retorted. 

"What could the other plans be?" Sam asked cautiously. 

"I can stick around until all of you guys die too and see where you end up. If you turn up in the Ghost Zone, we can all move on together. Or...you get a choice if you die peacefully from what I've heard. If that happens and you pick the Ghost Zone, we can stay there or move on. Moving on is actually pretty optional. Some ghosts are really happy in the Ghost Zone, like Frostbite and Boxed Lunch." Danny explained. Sam seemed to brighten slightly at this and nodded once in understanding. 

"So we don't actually have to lose you?" she murmured. Danny smiled softly at that and shook his head. 

"Nah. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Danny said. Just then Tucker's phone rang and the boy winced. 

"It's my parents...I'll be back in a few." Tucker said, darting back outside to answer the call. When the door shut behind him, Sam didn't hesitate to launch herself at Danny, hugging him fiercely. 

"I missed you so much Danny." she whispered, burying her face in his still silky hair. "You've got no idea what it was like. I...I almost gave up on you coming back. I mean, me and Tucker hoped 'cause we knew about the Ghost Zone but...still." she rambled, and Danny hugged her back tightly and let his face settle comfortably against the curve of her neck. 

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to come back Sam. You can't come back within the first forty eight hours because you have to actually realize you're...y'know, not human anymore, and then you sort of get a tutorial from another ghost and  _then_ you can come back if you have an obsession." Danny whispered. Sam hugged him even more tightly and shook her head faintly. 

"I should've figured that saving us would be your obsession, Danny  _Phantom_." she teased, although her voice was still wavering. Danny slowly glided over to the couch and settled so that Sam was still wrapped around him tightly but he could lean back against the back of the seat. The feelings that he had felt so intensely when he was still alive crashed over him all of a sudden and he shivered a bit, burying his face in Sam's hair, which smelled faintly of her vegan friendly strawberry shampoo. The words were there, he just had to say them, but he felt like he couldn't now. He had waited too long, had been too wrapped up in his stupid, shallow crush on Paulina to admit it, and now he was  _dead_. There was no way it could work out, at least not until Sam...he shook his head, unwilling to think about Sam dying. 

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, pulling back to see the torn look on Danny's face. Danny smiled weakly and shrugged. 

"I just missed you." he said, because while it wasn't a lie, it wasn't the whole truth. Sam surveyed his face for a moment and then nodded in acceptance. It was then that her hand came up to gently cup his cheek and he blushed green. 

"I'm sorta digging this new look. It's very...rogue." Sam complimented, her own cheeks flushing a healthy shade of pink as she toyed with Danny's fringe of black and white streaked hair. 

"Thanks, I think." Danny replied. "It took a bit of getting used to, especially the eyes. The eyes freaked me out." he admitted, feeling a bit self conscious. 

"Hey, heterochromia is hot." Sam said without thinking, and her blush grew darker. 

"Hetero what now?" Danny stammered, blushing as well. 

"Heterochromia. It's the term used to describe the genetic condition in which a person has two different eye colors." Sam murmured, her fingers sweeping lightly under Danny's left eye. "And it's not that freaky. I mean, I got used to seeing you with both at one time or another, so seeing them together isn't bad. I'd take you having two different eye colors than never seeing your eyes again any day." 

The feeling in Danny's gut surged again and he swore that he was glowing from the blush flooding his chilly cheeks. Sam noticed the blush and her fingers trailed downward just a bit. "You blush green." she smiled. Danny shrugged and offered her a shy smile. 

"I guess I do." he said, because he couldn't say anything else. At least, he couldn't say what he wanted to say.  _I think I love you_.

"Danny..." Sam whispered after a few minutes of them sitting like that, Sam curled up so close to him that she was practically in his lap with one warm hand on his icy face. 

"Hmm?" he replied, feeling sleepy and content. 

"I...I..." she began to say. "I don't know how wrong it is for me to say this, but I gotta say it Danny. I...I love you." she whispered, and Danny's eyes lit up in the must human way possible since his death. His jaw dropped and his hands immediately wrapped around Sam's hips, hauling her into him. 

"I love you to Sam." he whispered, burying his face in her strawberry scented hair and kissing the top of her head lightly. 

"So, I hope Sam didn't get to hear anything c-" Tucker said as he burst into the room, but he froze and immediately cursed himself when he realized what he had just interrupted. Sam and Danny both glared daggers at him, but then Danny shrugged. 

_I've got the rest of my afterlife to figure this out_ he thought with a grin, and for the first time since he died, everything felt just right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT THE END. I promise. There's going to be a lot more. I want to have Danny and Dash interact, there's definitely going to be a funeral, Danny's going to have to fight ghosts (just because he's one of them doesn't mean they have to like him), and relationships will potentially blossom (dating a ghost is a bit more questionable than it seems.)


	4. Without a Soul My Spirit's Sleeping Somewhere Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny forgets that he's a ghost, Dash panics, and their class realizes just how special Daniel Fenton is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If physical and verbal altercations make you uncomfortable, don't read this chapter :)

_Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep._

Danny groaned and slapped his hand around his nightstand a few times before his palm slapped down on the OFF button of his alarm clock. 6:00 AM blinked at him in green and he was yet again seized with the urge to ecto-blast his alarm clock through the wall. However, he simply stumbled out of his bedroom and hopped into the shower, dressing afterwards mechanically. He should have noticed that something was off when he pulled on his white fingerless gloves, but for the first time in days Danny felt good. Alive even. It should have been a warning sign to him, but Danny paid no attention as he drifted downstairs and hurriedly scarfed down a bowl of cereal and swigged some orange juice out of the carton. Nobody else was in the kitchen, which was a bit odd since Jazz was usually up, but Danny shrugged it off and trotted out of the house, pausing only to grab his backpack. He walked down the sidewalk humming to himself, grinning broadly when he reached Tucker's house. Tucker walked out a few moments later, shoulders slumped and face weary. Danny furrowed his eyebrows and waved at Tucker, shooting him a reassuring smile. Tucker froze and swallowed roughly as he walked down the steps and met up with Danny. 

"Do...do you think this is a good idea Danny?" Tucker asked quietly, eyes flickering over his friend. Danny arched a brow and readjusted his backpack. 

"Um, yeah. Why not? I mean, I have to go anyway." Danny said, and although that drew a very confused look from Tucker, the other teen said nothing in response. When they got to Sam's house, the Goth said nothing, choosing to simply lace her warm fingers through Danny's icy ones and head towards the school with a determined look on her face. 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The illusion was shattered the second Danny made it to school. Danny didn't notice that some of the halls were blocked off and that the scent of ash still permeated the air, he was so deep in his almost trance like state. They hadn't run into anyone else on their walk and even in through the doors, but when they made it to their lockers and Danny reached up to open his an earth shattering scream echoed through the hallway. 

"GHOST!" Star screamed, her usually lightly tanned face milk white as she stared at Danny. Danny's jaw dropped and he held up his hands to calm Star down, and that was when he remembered.  _Oh god,_ he thought,  _I came to school. I'm dead, I'm a ghost, and I'm at school._

Sam could see the panic on Danny's face and she reached out to squeeze his elbow lightly. Yes, Danny was definitely a ghost, but she was so used to it thanks to Phantom that she hadn't considered the repercussions of her dead best friend's ghost accompanying her to school. Star was trembling like a leaf now, and Danny let out a soft sigh. 

"Star...Star, it's okay." Danny said quietly, taking a small step towards her. She cowered against the lockers on the opposite side of the hallway and shook her head. 

"You DIED Danny! How are you here?!" she squeaked. Danny pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a soft sigh. 

"I...I...I'm still here Star. I mean, yeah, I'm different, but it's me. This is...this is my spirit. My body. I just...I'm not human anymore is all." Danny tried to explain, and Star stared at him as if he were speaking in tongues. 

"Why do you look like Phantom?" Star questioned, and Danny bit his lower lip. 

"I was...no, I _am_ Phantom." Danny said firmly after a few moments. Star gaped at him, as did Sam and Tucker.  _I mean, I'm already dead, so it's not like my human half can get ripped apart molecule by molecule for science and my parents won't damage my ghost now that it's all they've got left_ he thought cynically, and he offered Star a small, weak smile. 

"You're Danny Phantom?" Star breathed, straightening up slightly. By this time, they had attracted a crowd. Some students, like Paulina, were crying silently as they took in the sight of Danny. Others, like Kwan and Mikey, looked devastated but pleased at the same time. 

"Yeah. I mean...Danny  _Fenton_ , Danny _Phantom_...it wasn't a hard leap guys." he said, and a few people chuckled at that. 

"I guess that's why you've got the logo on your shirt. I was about to tease you for being a fanboy Fenton." a voice said, and Danny stiffened immediately. A few gasps sounded through the crowd, and Danny could see Sam turn a violent shade of red out of the corner of his eye as Dash pushed his way through the crowd. 

Something in Danny snapped, and when he blinked his eyes went from blue and green to red. Danny launched himself forward, flying easily, and pinned Dash to the lockers by the collar of his jacket. Dash let out a pathetic whimper and squeezed his eyes shut. 

"You've got some guts acting like you can tease me Dash Baxter." Danny snarled, rattling Dash slightly. Dash let out another whimper and flailed his legs, trying to escape Danny's supernaturally strong grasp. 

"I-I'm sorry Danny!" Dash gasped, eyes still shut. 

"You're  _sorry_? I'm DEAD DASH!" Danny screamed, slamming Dash against the locker again. "I'M DEAD BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT IT'D BE FUN TO MESS WITH ME. SORRY ISN'T GOING TO FIX THAT!" Danny continued, his voice rising in volume with each word. In the back of his head, Danny knew he would reach Ghostly Wail level if he wasn't careful, but he didn't care. Dash would deserve that and  _so much more_. 

"I didn't know it was going to happen Danny, I swear." Dash pleaded, eyes finally opening to meet Danny's crimson irises. He wanted to flinch away, but something in his gut wouldn't let him. 

"You still did it Dash. You are the reason I'm dead." Danny growled, hands starting to shake. He wanted to throw Dash through a wall, beat him within an inch of his life and then stuff him in a locker or hang him from the flagpole for all to see; Dash Baxter, the boy that killed Danny Fenton. Dash's eyes fell shut again and a tear rolled down his cheek. 

"You think I don't know that Danny? You think I don't know that I'm a murderer?" Dash whispered, voice shaking with the effort it was taking him to contain his sobs. It was agonizing to see Danny like this, a ghost, his eyes red with rage and face changed so severely. 

"No, I don't think you know it because you're still here." Danny snapped, dropping Dash and letting the athlete slide to the floor. "You deserve to be in prison for what you did, and if I were still alive I'd definitely make sure you went." he added, his voice nothing more than a hiss before he straightened himself and pushed a few strands of bi-colored hair out of his face. 

"Danny, come on, just..." Sam began, and when Danny turned those crimson eyes on her she shrank back. He looked too close to Dark Dan for her liking. 

"Give me a few minutes to haunt the jerk that ruined my life, would ya Sam?" he snapped, and with that he turned back to Dash. Dash looked up at him hopelessly and nodded once. Accepting his fate. 


	5. Reboot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not actually a chapter

Hello all. I've decided to reboot this story since I wasn't pleased with it. I wanted it to be kind of dark and it got really fluffy so I've restarted it. The new, active story is on my page with the same title. Sorry all!


End file.
